


Dinosaurs and Friendship

by RikuNghts



Series: The Evolution of a Friendship [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Autism, Autistic Character, Autistic Tsukishima Kei, Gen, Pre-Canon, Tsukki makes a friend, slightly AU maybe?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 21:25:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11859966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RikuNghts/pseuds/RikuNghts
Summary: When Tsukishima was younger, he had a difficult time making friends. His family told him he was too blunt for the other children, but Tsukishima didn’t understand why that was a problem. He was just being honest, and didn’t his mother always tell him he should be honest?





	Dinosaurs and Friendship

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Mornin'](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8617633) by [月島 蛍 (Loki_Likey_Thor_Odinson)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loki_Likey_Thor_Odinson/pseuds/%E6%9C%88%E5%B3%B6%20%E8%9B%8D). 



> Hello, everyone! This story is a one-shot inspired by the works of 月島 蛍 (Loki_Likey_Thor_Odinson). I really like how they created a world with Tsukishima being autistic, and I loved the relationship he had with Bokuto, Akaashi, and Kuroo. Being autistic myself, I decided to give my interpretation. This is short, but I wanted to explore a little of Tsukki and Yamaguchi's friendship. There's no romance and it takes place when they're younger. It briefly overlaps with the memory Yamaguchi has during the Tokyo training camp. Enjoy!

When Tsukishima was younger, he had a difficult time making friends. His family told him he was too blunt for the other children, but Tsukishima didn’t understand why that was a problem. He was just being honest, and didn’t his mother always tell him he should be honest? It was fine, though. He didn’t need any friends. He had his older brother and his dinosaur collection, and that was enough. Once his brother introduced him to volleyball, he had that, too.

Tsukishima knew he was different. His mother tried to keep it quiet, but he heard her talk on the phone with his grandmother, and she’d use the word “autism.” Wanting to know what it meant but also not wanting to interrupt her, he went to find his older brother.

He found him in his room studying. “Nii-chan, what does autism mean?”

His brother looked up from his book, startled. “Where did you hear that, Kei?”

“Mom is on the phone and she said I have autism. What does that mean? Is it bad?”

“No, Kei. It’s not bad at all. It’s just...it means your brain works a little differently from other people, that’s all.”

Tsukishima stared at his brother, processing the information. “Like how I still really like dinosaurs, even though most people say I’m too old for them?”

“Who says that?”

He shrugged. “Some kids at school. They’re stupid.”

“You’re never too old for things you like, Kei. If you’re passionate about something, that’s a good thing.”

“Like you like volleyball, right, Nii-chan?”

Akiteru smiled. “Yes, just like that.”

“So do you have autism, too?”

His brother frowned then. “Um, no...I don’t think so. Does that bother you?”

“No. Should it?”

“No, Kei. Definitely not.”

Satisfied with the answer, he left the room and went to play with his dinosaurs.

~~~

  
Tsukishima made his first real friend, other than his brother, when he was in elementary school. It was the first week of school and he was walking home when he came across a group of boys harassing another one. The smaller boy was on the ground, tears in his eyes, as the other three boys told him to carry their bags.

He stopped walking and stared at them. The boy on the ground seemed to want help, but Tsukishima couldn’t be bothered. It wasn’t his problem. When the other boys turned, however, and asked what he was looking at, he raised an eyebrow. He stood taller than all of them, and they seemed to shrink back a little. One of them whispered the he must be a sixth grader, but his friend corrected him.

“Lame,” he said, using the word Akiteru had explained to him last night.

“What’d you mean?” One boy chased after him as he walked away. “Wait a sec!” The boy grabbed his bag and he turned around. He didn’t like being touched.

“What?”

Tsukishima towered over the kid who quickly realized he’d made a mistake. He tried to make a smart comeback, but it bounced off Tsukishima weakly. “Y-you’re lame, four eyes! Stupid!” he yelled as he ran away.

Tsukishima laughed as his friends followed after him, leaving the little one on the ground alone. He glanced at the kid and turned to go home. He didn’t want to be late.

~~~

Later, he learned the boy’s name was Yamaguchi Tadashi, and even though he wasn’t looking for a friend, he found one.

“You were so cool!” Yamaguchi said, trailing after him the next day.

No one had called him cool before. He was always “weird,” or “strange,” or “stupid.” Sometimes he got “four eyes.” He felt his face flush with pleasure, but he didn’t respond.

“I’ll bet they never pick on me again because you were so cool, and they just ran away. And you’re so tall.”

“My family is tall.”

“But you could almost be in middle school. They thought you were in sixth grade!”

“I’m not old enough.”

“No, but you look like you could be,” Yamaguchi said, following him to his house. “Oh wow, we live close to each other!” he said, eyes wide.

Tsukishima stared at the boy - his new friend, first friend - as he opened the gate to his house. Yamaguchi stood outside, a bright smile on his face. What was it Nii-chan did in these moments? He froze, this situation completely foreign to him. He’d never invited someone over before, and - ah.

“Do you want to come inside?”

“Okay!”

Yamaguchi followed him into the house and removed his shoes. When Tsukishima’s mother came around the corner, she stared at the boy next to him, a look of surprise on her face.

“Oh, hello. I didn’t know Kei was bringing a friend over.”

“Hello! Sorry for the intrusion,” he said politely. “My name is Yamaguchi Tadashi. Tsukki is my new friend.”

“Tsukki, hmm?” his mother smiled while Tsukishima cringed at the nickname. He’d told Yamaguchi not to call him that. “Are you in the same class?”

“No. Tsukki helped me yesterday.”

“Did he now? That’s wonderful, Kei. Why didn’t you tell me?” Tsukishima shrugged and his mother stifled a laugh behind her hand. “Why don’t you boys go upstairs and I’ll bring you some snacks.”

“Thank you, Tsukishima-san!”

Tsukishima’s mother urged him up the stairs to his room, and he hesitated. He didn’t like people coming into his room. It was his space and his things were ordered the way he liked it. He spun on Yamaguchi and stared down at him. “You can come in, but you can’t touch anything.”

“Why not?”

“Because I like things where they are, and I don’t want to fix it.”

“Okay.”

He opened the door and walked in before Yamaguchi, ready to stop him from touching anything. Instead the boy took a seat in the middle of the floor, looking around with his eyes but keeping his hands to himself.

“You like dinosaurs?”

“Yes, they’re cool.”

Yamaguchi nodded, eyes wide at the collection. “You must really like them. You have a lot.”

“So?”

“What? You just have a lot, that’s all.”

Tsukishima narrowed his eyes at the shorter boy. Wasn’t he going to say something about how dinosaurs were for babies? He didn’t seem like the other kids in his grade, but who knew when he would change.

“Oh! You play volleyball?”

“Yes. With my brother.”

“Can we play? I like volleyball, but I’m not very good.”

“We can play with my brother when he comes home.”

“Okay!”

Yamaguchi was easy to talk to. He was cheerful and happy when they were together, but he listened well and didn’t ask too many questions. At least, he didn’t ask hard questions and he didn’t seem to really question anything Tsukishima said. Even when he knew he was being blunt and should “tone it down,” as his mother said, Yamaguchi didn’t flinch. He just watched him in awe, nodded, and changed subjects. Yamaguchi laughed at his jokes rather than at him, and even when Tsukishima made mistakes or said something he knew might sound strange to others, Yamaguchi just listened raptly.

It only took until elementary school, but Tsukishima finally had a friend who understood him.


End file.
